A jaw is a machine tool part designed for machining elements in the form of sheets, such as sheet metal, that holds the machined sheet firmly. Jaws are found, for example, in drawing machines and bending brakes.
The size of the jaw must be adapted to the size of the sheet metal to be machined and to the operation carried out. To be able to machine pieces of sheet metal of different sizes on the same machine tool, it is necessary to be able to change the size of the jaw.
Adapting the entire jaw to the size of the sheet metal to be machined without manual intervention is known.
The main drawback of conventional systems for adapting the size of a jaw automatically is that this operation takes a relatively long time, thus limiting productivity in relation to flexibility. The time required to machine the sheet metal is less than the time taken to adapt the jaw in known systems. Hence, a user will endeavor to fabricate several parts with the same size before changing the size of the jaw.
Moreover, for optimization reasons, manufacturers recommend first running operations requiring a short jaw on the machine tool equipped with a modular jaw, and subsequently, running operations requiring a long jaw. The user, thus, has to adjust the machining sequence to these constraints.